Lord Kor'sarro Krieg (a.k.a. The Impaler Prince)
Physical Description
Thanks to his nature as a
Greater Human, his body has only just recently reached its prime. He is physically fit, robust, and healthy and though he is perhaps a bit lanky compared to other, more muscular desert dwellers his body belies his true strength.
Most identifiable about him is his odd purple hair, and his strangely pale skin despite his time in the blistering desert heat.
He has a slightly lame right leg, and prefers to walk with a cane despite his young age, though he is capable of walking unassisted.
Though nothing has been confirmed, rumors have abounded about him and that he supposedly led an army of Demons during his campaign to unify the desert...rumors that say he has the loyalty of dozens, if not hundreds, of Demons pulled straight from the Abyss itself. The truth of these rumors has not been verified, but they have persisted and surround him nonetheless...and around his four-armed bodyguard, who many claim to be a Demon in disguise.
He tends to dress in elaborate suits and fashions of nobility not normal to the desert when he is not in battle, wearing no jewelry besides his rings and a locket around his neck. His style of dress is more commonly attributable to militaristic suits and noble fashions if they were streamlined for war and frequent action and battle.
In battle, he wields a long glaive and wears a full suit of bonded
NEMEAN Metal full-plate, a rarity that is almost never found in the current Era.
Mental characteristics
He is not thought to have had any formal education or training in any capacity.
His greatest and only accomplishment has been his brutal campaign of slaughter and conquest waged very recently in the Endless Sands of Western Ea, where he fought against the unseen cultist-like hordes that were infiltrating the villages, cities, and the population with his terrifyingly brutal methods of warfare. Killing, butchering, and staking entire populations and villages onto pikes to prevent the spread of the unseen cultist menace swarming from within, he brought unity and stability to the anarchic desert which had not seen such stability in an Age or more.
Though he was and is a highly reviled and feared tyrant, he has unburied the Sultanate's Palace from the Sand Dunes, reformed the government of old and gave the formerly anarchic desert a codified system of laws, a ruler, and a council to keep the singular ruler in 'check' and true to their duties despite their nigh-infinite power. Surprisingly, he himself made no claims or efforts to make himself the new Sultan of his fledgling nation, and instead gave those duties to his more well-liked Wife in recognition of his horrific brutalities and the fear he inspires in his populace. Instead, he has taken an advisory role and yet leads the military in the conquest of remaining rebellious elements that remain within the new nation, The Sultanate of Malthri.
None that are notable. His failure to save his birth village from being destroyed by bandits haunts him still, but he has otherwise been peerless on his campaign of carnage.
Many rumors abound about potential traumas he might suffer from that could cause his absolute lack of empathy and brutal nature, but none have ever been confirmed or proven.
At the core of his philosophy and morality is 'The Ends Justify the Means'. If the end result of his brutal slaughters is the establishment of a stable and powerful government and ruler, all he does is justified in his eyes. No matter how many thousands die, if thousands more live and his goals are achieved, that is what matters in his eyes.
Personality Characteristics
Zealously desires to bring unity and peace to the desert. Desires to re-establish the old Sultanate and provide the desert with a solid and codified system of government, and to abolish the anarchic nature of the current desert.
Excellent with 'Gunboat Diplomacy' and motivation through terror and fear. Good tactician but rarely spares innocents in his plans and often actively utilizes them as decoys and meatshields. Excellent user of 'scorched earth' tactics. Good leader in regards to the big picture and the whole, but terrible with true diplomacy, below-average diplomat, and not well skilled with caring about the little picture or the 'little man'. Bad at empathizing with others in any capacity.
Likes war, victory at any cost, those who do anything no matter how evil to get the job done, ruthlessness, ends that justify the means, and evil done for a greater good.
Dislikes thoughtless brutality, complicated political systems, anarchy, doing anything without a plan, negotiating or making agreements with a foe, and leaving a task unfinished.
Completely and unshakably confident, and incredibly driven. Once he has committed to a task he will see it done no matter the cost or time it takes. He is a brilliant tactician and intellectual who will heartlessly sacrifice thousands without batting an eye if he thinks doing so saves more in the end, and he refuses to negotiate or give his foes an inch even if costs thousands of innocent lives. Inspires almost fanatical loyalty in many of his subordinates, and his brutal tactics often break and demoralize his foes.
Absolutely ruthless and utterly without remorse or empathy, and measures 'success' in a war or battle by the end result, not by the lives spent. He holds no qualms against staking and killing men, women, and even children if it means denying his foe a population center or some strategic resource, and believes negotiations or 'meeting half-way' is a waste of his and everyone's time. Only when a foe is exterminated is the job done, to him.
Has a habit of rubbing his rings, notably his large skull-shaped obsidian ring, when he is deep in thought, nervous, or annoyed.
Fastidious and downright obsessive about his appearance, how he sits, and every aspect of himself. Always tries to keep an immaculate house even in the desert, and works tirelessly to make sure there are no faults in his appearance.
Social
Due to his nigh-absolute unification of the races and forces of the desert, he has connections and contacts with most major players that call the desert their home, from bandits to ancient nobles. He has inroads with them all, and has cowed almost all of them into submission and obedience through his overt displays of unparalleled brutality and genocide. Almost all know his name and even more dare to refuse a request from him.
He is not thought to possess any family that still live, whether he killed them himself as some claim or whether his village was wiped out decades ago as others claim, though his father is still an unknown variable in his life that many speculate wildly about.
The Impaler Prince rarely talks of his personal views to any and even fewer are confident enough to ask him, though many assume that he is a godless man, who pays no homage to any divine. He has not been seen wearing any holy symbols of iconography, nor has he been seen praying.
To those who have met him, the only descriptors that are applied to him are silent, brooding, and intimidating. He makes no attempt to be charismatic, nor is he, and he leads and commands through awe and sheer unbridled terror rather through motivating speeches or natural charisma. He is impossibly driven and has unshakeable confidence and zeal, which serve to drive his followers forward combined with the terror of what he might do to them if they fail him. In non-combat social situations, he rarely speaks, preferring to let others read into his silence or let others talk for him and only speaks when absolutely required of him.
He is silent, brooding, and meticulous with every move he makes as if he cannot afford to waste a second of time on useless movement in an almost robotic manner. He has an almost constant habit of rubbing his rings while he is talking or while he is focusing or thinking intently.
He rarely speaks, but when he does he speaks powerfully and in as few words as possible. He also has a slight accent that hearkens to his long life in the desert, when he speaks he expects to be heard and understood, and is almost excessively polite when he talks and rarely insults others, which puts his speech chillingly at odds with his brutal record of warfare. He brushes off and almost entirely ignores insults or verbal attacks against him, and pays such no mind.
Archenemy (Important)
Towards Zara Isfa El-Khayat
History
As Zara began the slowly and insidious corruption of the Great Southern Desert she hoped would lead to her and the cult she served as a high-ranking member of gaining dominion over The Desert, it was none other than Kor'sarro Krieg himself who stepped in to resist her. Opposing her deadly and insidious cultists who often hid within the populations of the Desert's settlements with scorched earth tactics where entire villages were put to the stake if it meant victory, the two became arch-rivals in a growing war that was fought for control over the desert.
As the war escalated and Krieg, now labeled The Impaler Prince for the numerous "Iron Forests" of metal stakes that impaled the bodies of entire villages left killed in his wake, began to gain the upper hand, Zara turned to the esoteric texts kept by her cult and began summoning Demons and other Outsiders to bolster the ranks of her failing cultists, trained well though they were.
Though even this strategy failed, and the Demon horde she summoned was outmatched and overtaken by The Impaler Prince's brutality, which proved suprising even to Demons themselves...and with her army defeated and her subordinates destroyed, she fled in humiliating defeat to the west to escape capture and execution.
Now, with the entire western desert beneath her boot and a new army forged from the disparate bandit clans that once roamed the western sands, she stands opposed to him and the rigid word of law he brings, protecting the anarchy of the west as both struggle in a cold war to overcome and destroy the other.
Although he grew up penniless and displays very few overt signs of his wealth, in his victories in the war for the desert and his subsequent conquest of the eastern Desert he has grown significantly wealthy but he seems to care little for using it personally. He spends most of his wealth on his fledgling kingdom, while only rarely spending it on himself.
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